Ryzen 9 5950X vs Xeon E3-1290 v2
Aggregate performance score
Ryzen 9 5950X outperforms Xeon E3-1290 v2 by a whopping 621% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1419 | 159 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.68 | 26.59 |
| Market segment | Server | Desktop processor |
| Series | no data | AMD Ryzen 9 |
| Power efficiency | 4.33 | 25.88 |
| Architecture codename | Ivy Bridge (2012−2013) | Vermeer (Zen 3) (2020−2022) |
| Release date | 14 May 2012 (12 years ago) | 5 November 2020 (4 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $885 | $799 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Ryzen 9 5950X has 3810% better value for money than Xeon E3-1290 v2.
Detailed specifications
Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.
| Physical cores | 4 (Quad-Core) | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 32 |
| Base clock speed | 3.7 GHz | 3.4 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.1 GHz | 4.9 GHz |
| Bus rate | 5 GT/s | no data |
| Multiplier | no data | 34 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 512K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (shared) | 64 MB |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 7 nm, 12 nm |
| Die size | 160 mm2 | CPU cores: 2x 80.7 sq. mm., I/O: 125 mm2 |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 95 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,400 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.
| Number of CPUs in a configuration | 1 | 1 |
| Socket | FCLGA1155 | AM4 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 87 Watt | 105 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX | MMX (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Flex Memory Access | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | + | no data |
| Fast Memory Access | + | no data |
| Precision Boost 2 | no data | + |
Security technologies
Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
| Identity Protection | + | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | 32.77 GB | 128 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | 51.196 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | + | - |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 4.0 |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.
GeekBench 5 Single-Core
GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 3.98 | 28.71 |
| Recency | 14 May 2012 | 5 November 2020 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 16 |
| Threads | 8 | 32 |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 87 Watt | 105 Watt |
Xeon E3-1290 v2 has 20.7% lower power consumption.
Ryzen 9 5950X, on the other hand, has a 621.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, 300% more physical cores and 300% more threads, and a 214.3% more advanced lithography process.
The Ryzen 9 5950X is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon E3-1290 v2 in performance tests.
Be aware that Xeon E3-1290 v2 is a server/workstation processor while Ryzen 9 5950X is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1290 v2 and Ryzen 9 5950X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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